Save the Pearls – A White Woman’s Worst Nightmare

Imagine a world without white privilege. The system that deems Caucasian features and white skin as a status symbol has lead to some of the greatest atrocities in human history: genocide, slavery, imperialism, and the mass incarceration and systematic murder of people of color all over the world. Anti-racist activists have long held that white privilege and white supremacy must be dismantled in order for society to ever become truly post-racial. A world without white privilege would be a world in which people of color would finally feel safe to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

But according to Victoria Foyt and her new novel Save the Pearls, a world without white supremacy is pretty terrifying, at least for white women.

To put it lightly, this book is problematic, but to put it more accurately, this book is catastrophically misguided. It doesn’t take much effort to unpack the racial implications of this one. You don’t need to look any further than Foyt’s own summary of the novel. The protagonist, Eden Newman (the name Eden here obviously is meant to signify purity), lives in a world where dark-skinned people are the dominate members of society. They’re known as Coals. I can’t imagine why the ruling class of the world would choose to name themselves after something so dirty. Oh wait. It’s probably because Victoria Foyt is a racist.

Eden Newman has the unfortunate luck to have been born blonde-haired and blue-eyed. These people are known as Pearls. Again, the ruling class of society inexplicably gives a better name to the supposed underclass. Wow, it’s almost as if white people are still the dominate class, even in a fantasy novel based on the premise that they’re oppressed. In this post-apocalyptic world, those with darker-skin are more valued because they’re better equipped to handle the intense heat of the planet. Therefore, Pearls are considered weak, ugly, and have the lowest chance to find a good mate. However, choosing to defy the logic of her own novel, Foyt writes that mixed-race children, even though they can survive the heat better, are still ridiculed in a similar fashion to the Pearls. Why? Who the fuck knows?

My favorite part is how the Uni-Gov, the Big Black Brother of Foyt’s novel, has a law that says the Pearls are only allowed to go outside at night, and only if they’re wearing heavy layers of makeup to darken their skin. That’s right: black face features prominently in this totally not racist novel. Foyt writes that even if Pearls follow all the oppressive rules created for them, they’re still considered lucky to survive to their 40’s. You know, kind of like black men such as Troy Davis and Trayvon Martin.

I’m finding it hard to believe that Foyt doesn’t realize the wealth of bullshit that she’s created with this novel. She’s crafted a truly terrifying world for her white readers: a world where they’re treated like men and women of color are treated today. Beauty standards are notoriously Euro-centric, with emphasis being placed on blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and small noses. Even the standards of beauty that women of color can attain are often only appreciated when placed on a white body. That’s why Katy Perry gets praised for her rear end while black women can’t twerk in a youtube video without white folks clamoring to talk about how they’re disrespecting themselves. I could accept Foyt’s world if it critically examined itself and prompted some important questions about white privilege, but it appears that it’s just another YA Fantasy novel on a bookshelf of increasingly white-centric stories.

Victoria Foyt is failing readers of color. What is in this novel for black and brown children other than self hate? We’re talking about a society where images of beautiful women of color are rarely shown in mass media. Hell, there are barely any women of color in mass media to begin with. The novel rings forth as not only harmful, but intentionally spiteful. Either Victoria Foyt is the most naive, backward thinking author since Joseph Conrad, or she’s a thoroughgoing racist. I can’t find an in between here.

What’s worse is Foyt’s own delusions about what she’s created. In an article for the Huffington Post, Foyt says that she’s surprised that there hasn’t been any protest to the novel’s content, not because of the stark, cutting racism, but because of the interracial couple. Yes, Foyt actually believes her novel is a positive step towards racial unity or something. She also offers up this gem:

Conceivably, if the book had not reached the African-American community of readers, if such a category still exists, perhaps there might be some backlash. The first young African American reader who responded to me loved the book. But then, she’s the kind of free spirit who would eschew limiting herself to a single category.

Did Foyt just say that “free spirited” black children will love the book more than others? This is college-level racial coding. She’s setting up a dichotomy of blacks which is further evidence of her racism. Black and brown readers should not have to abandon their racial identity in order to be taken seriously. I don’t know who this free spirited black reader is, but the fact that Foyt seems impressed that the reader isn’t like those other black people shows clear signs that she has a very warped, very racially tinted view of those she should be serving.

Eden Newman should not be the hero of this novel. The Pearls should not be the poor victims we’re supposed to sympathize with. The Coals should not be the ones we hate. Foyt is putting something out into the world that is not only an element of white privilege, but an active agent in the strengthening a violent, dehumanizing system of oppression. A world without white privilege is not a world we should fear. It’s a world we should strive for.

Why are you bringing politics into this and trying to imply Romney is a racist? The author of the book also wrote for Huffington Post, a known liberal newspaper. More likely she’s a liberal democrat if we want to make assumptions. That said, the author is an idiot. Haven’t read her book but from what I’ve seen of it it looks stupid as well as the youtube trailer where the girl Eden is in ‘Blackface’.

With this novel, she’s only helping white youth to pick up her mentality, and though she might advocate that it’s for everyone, I agree with you that it’s only hurting the self-value of all the people of colour.

Moreover, on the book’s youtube channel, http://www.youtube.com/savethepearls, dating profiles can be found for pearls with low ‘mate-rates’ because of their white skin. Dancer88’s description talks of her ‘beautiful green eyes’. Although this is a feature usually associated with lighter skin and not dark, it’s still described as a great rarity. If Foyt’s goal was to truly austracize the ‘pearls’, green eyes would be seen as an ugly outlier.

She continually displays her backwards thinking. Not to mention the blackface all over the channel.

This is a fantastic breakdown of the fuckery at hand here. Like, it’s totally obvious that Foyt’s work isn’t self-aware or nuanced enough to actually examine privilege in any kind of nuanced way just from the fact that she didn’t even bother to correct the racist (and contradictory in terms of her own fictional world) language in regards to calling whites Pearls (pretty, soft, precious stones) and Black people Coal (dirty, common). And I’m sure that’s only the tip of the racist iceberg. I mean, come onnn, try a LITTLE harder.

“Even the standards of beauty that women of color can attain are often only appreciated when placed on a white body. That’s why Katy Perry gets praised for her rear end while black women can’t twerk in a youtube video without white folks clamoring to talk about how they’re disrespecting themselves.”
This made me think of the age old question as to why women of color dance to songs that are deemed as disrespecting them, but when white women get down to disrespectful music, they aren’t derided for their lack of self respect. I think it all comes down to whites not wanting WoC to love their bodies, and to place the beauties of white women above their own. Look at Kim kardashian, getting praise for a body shape that can be found on a lot of WoC.
Btw, have you ever heard the quote “”If you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls.”? Maybe she’s saying that with time minorities will become what whites were? Its just really interesting how she’s trying to make it seem as if she’s writing an empowerment story for repressed whites yet isn’t trying to help the real oppressed, PoC. Thanks for this review though, it saved me from actually having to shovel bullshit onto my eyes.

This would almost be more comforting if she was intentionally racist, because then it would just be smirk-worthy. But this is worse, because it proves that enough people are so mind-bogglingly ignorant of racial issues that this book could actually be published.

While I respect this author’s views, they obviously didn’t read to the end of the book… (as none of you “judge a book by it’s cover” haters in the comments have either…) One of the main characters is a strong, wealthy black male whom eden happens to fall in love with! Get past the first chapter and you’ll see that people are bashing this book for no reason… it’s a love story and an interracial one at that! And the overall message is discovering your INNER beauty no matter what popular opinion may be.

I actually read it and I thought it was good, if not a little childish in some places. (i’m a 30 year old man and not your usual YA fan to say the least).

I would say to you all, ignore what everyone else is saying (even me) and give the book a read. If you still think it’s racist against minorities than I’ll redact my comment here.

Are you forgetting the jungle cat-man he becomes in order to be sexually attractive? She literally turns the black man into a wild object of lust, and pretends not to understand the implications behind this. You know, the century or two worth of animalizing black men and making them an ethnic dirty thing. It’s unacceptable and ignorant of privilege.

“for no reason”?? have you been reading what folks are saying? there have been myriad reasons laid out before you that people are angry about this book and its author’s extremely white supremacist stance in defending it. Black people can’t read? Did you even see that up there? Or is she saying we only read certain shit, which is still a fucking stereotype BASED IN RACISM. Half of the damn book (oh hey, look who read it) is laced with racist tropes, offensive historical stereotypes and is entirely based on an experience the author had in which people called her a mean name once.

Since when is it groundbreaking for white folks to talk about a dystopia in which people of color are in charge and they’re not on top anymore? Since when? Since when are policies all over the country not enacted to keep people of color in their place — to keep that from happening for as long as possible? Since when do the vast majority of white folks not look down their noses at people of color at the same time they claim to be trying to help? Since when are folks not telling people of color that we’re being divisive by pointing out factual information about things that need to change if we are ever going to TRULY be considered and treated as equal? When did any of those things NOT happen? Explain that to me like I’m 5, because in the remaining 33 years of living, I’ve never seen those things NOT happen.

And since when — since *when* — does a person fall in love with a person from another race and suddenly become anti-racist, and denounce all racist tendencies? Where they do that at?

You need to wake up. You need to realize that just because you enjoyed something, and you feel like it had a happy ending, doesn’t mean that there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s *everything* wrong with this book. It’s racist. The author is racist. You are reading racist material and agreeing with it. That either makes you woefully ignorant, or incredibly racist.

And no, dear heart, it’s not racist to point out racism. It’s honesty.

I swear, this colorblind mentality is the biggest mind-fuck since crack cocaine.

To condemn any book on the basis of its cover is hardly different than condemning a total stranger because of the color of his/her skin. How can you critique or damn a book if you haven’t read it? This kind of blind attack is exactly what creates racism or condemned many progressives as communists in the Fifties. [emphasis mine]

Gods, it’s almost as if you took the words right from her bigoted ass.

The writer’s intent means shit. Hurtful crap is still hurtful even if said with a soft tone or in a calculated tone, on pretty letterhead.

Historical context means something and not even white people can avoid it forever. Foyt tried to claim and modify the heritages of blackface, racist stereotypes, when they weren’t hers to touch.

To put it in the most severe understatement I can, she failed. Epically. No doubt about it.

If the ozone layer ever gets so depleted that it leads to massive amounts of skin cancer deaths, here’s what would go down in the US: the US government would start handing out SPF 500 sunscreen and radiation suits free of charge to the “most vulnerable populations” (aka white people) while people of color would have to buy their own. As PoC are more likely to be homeless (and thus exposed to the sun) and poor compared to white people, they start dying from skin cancer in greater numbers. A few liberal politicians try to remedy this by writing laws to purchase sunscreen and suits for people of color. They never get passed because all the other politicians say it’s “reverse racist” and would increase the deficit too much. And white people live happily ever after.

This author’s been deleting racist accusations off of her Facebook page. And apparently she was inspired to write this story when, as a child, she was called a racial slur about the size of her lips. She was so hurt and disturbed that “she would go on to write a book that turned the concept of race on its head.” This is actually almost verbatim. And it’s terrifying how someone could even get away with this. She also spent articles and articles on the HuffPo gushing about how she hopes the “younger generation” will be colorblind ughhh

Just a white guy passing through, seeing what others have to say about this “novel.” I don’t think the author is actually racist, but rather a well-intentioned idiot. Among certain people at least, there’s a desire to think that racism is all “in the past.” To them, this story doesn’t really have unfortunate implications, because it’s “100% fantasy so anything can happen” or something. To write about the future, you first need to understand the present, which the author doesn’t seem to.

Almost every novel about racism I’ve ever read has been crap, honestly. Oppression can make for an interesting story if it’s not just a book-length sympathy ploy. And devoting a series to get sympathy for white teenage girls is pretty damn excessive.

i feel like she’s trolling. honestly, i can’t imagine anyone could be so oblivious as to not understand what utter bullcrap they’ve written. and her defense that a “free-spirited” aa liked her book? WHAT?

I just posted the article to my Facebook wall with this caption: “I still don’t understand how this author could possibly conceive that writing this novel was a good idea. Seriously, you’re going to name the dominant majority “Coals” and the minority “Pearls?” In what world would the ruling class refer to
itself as something that is considered dirty by most and only used as a source of energy? That description sounds a heck of a lot like slaves. “Oh, the redeeming factor is that coals can turn into diamonds.” Yes, if they are put under intense pressure for years, and then you’re left with an object that is hardened to the World and has in most cases a lack of color. You’re left with something that is only thought to be beautiful once it has been cut down and made easier for the general public to consume. I think I just over-analysed this…. The book is still stupid. :b”

Going forth, when will certain members of our society (this includes people of ALL races) get it through their heads that racism is still a major part of the world that we live in? Whether it’s tropes in literature and visual media or the systematic injustices found in all parts of our government (local, state, and federal), we are all touched by racism and, at times, participants in our own destruction. Yes, we are all one race, human, but we are not blind to the colour barriers that have been set up since the days of imperialism. The author, though she seems to have tried to create a novel in which our current ideas of race are turned on their heads in order to break them, has instead created a book that only further perpetuates past and modern stereotypes and has failed at what I perceive to be her original goal.